Dragons and Reasons Why
by MissingMommy
Summary: Charlie will never regret talking to her. :: Charlie/Katie. For Kelly.


For Kelly. Happy birthday, love.

It's Charlie/Katie, and it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be to write. I hope you enjoy it.

Words: 1178

Charlie's twenty-six when he first _actually_ notices her. It's barely two months after the war, after the tragedy, while he's still at home on leave. She's talking with George, who isn't saying much – not that it's really expected of him.

Ron walks up beside him, and notices his stare. There's a smirk on Ron's face as Charlie nods in her direction. "Who's that with George?" he asks, because he always allows his curiosity to get the best of him.

"That's Katie Bell. She was in the twi –," he cuts himself off, before continuing, "in George's year. She was a Chaser on the Gryffindor team. Damn good one, at that," Ron informs his brother. "I hear that she went professional."

Charlie nods before heading back to the kitchen for a new drink. He has to admit that Katie's quite beautiful with long dark brown hair. But there's nothing he's going to do about it. He's leaving back to Romania at the end of the week, and relationships have never been his cup of coffee.

.

It's nearly a year later when Charlie sees Katie again. She's walking around the Dragon Reservation, with her head held high. He gives his co-worker a glance and utters, "You owe me, and this is me cashing that in. I'll be back in an hour."

His co-worker rolls her eyes at him, but waves him off anyways.

He intercepts her as she's walking toward the building that the baby eggs are kept in. He falls into step next to her without her noticing. "You're Katie, aren't you?" he asks, shoving his hands in his pockets.

She draws her wands, prepared to hex the person into oblivion. She stops, however, when she notices the familiar head of _Weasley_ red hair. "You're one of George's older brothers," she states. She bites her lips, trying to recall names. Finally, she grins triumphantly. "You're Charlie. I remember the twins – er, George telling Ang and I about the one that works with dragons."

He sits his hand out with a grin. "I'm Charlie."

She looks at the hand before shaking it quickly. She drops it before he can give her a proper handshake, though. "Katie Bell."

"Well, Katie, what brings you to Romania?" he asks as he holds the door open for her. He hasn't completely forgotten his manners.

She murmurs her thanks. "Had time off work," she shrugs. "And I kind of promised myself that I would go to every country at least once."

"That's good," he tells her. "How many have you been to?"

"Fifteen," she tells him. "Mostly big countries, but I have been to a few smaller ones. Most of the places, you wouldn't believe the scenery."

Charlie laughs. "I know what that is. I visited Bill a while back, and Egypt is much different from Romania, but it's still beautiful."

She nods her head in agreement. As she's walking by the un-hatched eggs, she grins. "Well, I didn't come here to talk about my plans. I came here to learn about dragons. Can you help me?"

Charlie raises his eyebrow, but a smile plays at his lips. "What would you like to know?"

"Everything," comes her instant response.

"You'll be here for a long time, then, because even I don't know everything," Charlie remarks. But he continues on. "We take the dragon eggs from the dragons because the females like to fight for dominance, and the eggs tend to get crushed when that happens…"

As he rambles on about dragons, Katie listens closely. And all Charlie can think about is that Katie is one hell of a girl.

.

"I see you came back," Charlie says, amusedly as he sees Katie enter his favorite coffee shop. It's been five months since he's last seen her, when he was providing her with dragon egg information.

She gives him a smile, and Charlie can't help but think that Katie's beautiful when she smiles. Her brown eyes sparkle and her hair is always a mess, but she's perfect.

"Of course I did. I told you I wanted to know _everything_," Katie replies. By the way she says "everything", Charlie isn't sure what she's referring to. But he's not questioning it; Katie is great company.

Instead, Charlie laughs. "What do you want to learn about today?"

"Tell me why you chose to be a Dragon Tamer." She leans forward, placing her elbows on the table before resting her head on her hands. From the position, she looks like she's intrigued, that she _actually_ wants to know about him.

So he smiles. "The thrill," he tells her simply. "I wanted the adrenaline rush but I was never particularly good with DADA or Charms. I preferred to be outside, with animals. Dragons are beautifully misunderstood creatures. People believe they are dangerous – and they are, don't get me wrong – but they have a structured society that's wonderful to understand."

She nods in all the right places and smiles when he gets done. "It sounds very Gryffindor of you," she remarks. "It seems that all your family, besides Percy, picks jobs for the thrill."

He grins. "So what about you? You play professional Quidditch, don't you?"

"You've been checking up on me, Weasley?" she asks, her tone playful. "But yes, I'm a Chaser for the Irish. I guess I do it because I enjoy it. I get to do something I love to do for a living. There's nothing better than that."

"No there's not," he agrees.

.

Several hours and quite a few cups of coffee later, Katie and Charlie are stilling at the same table, talking and laughing. Charlie has plans to meet a few co-workers for drinks. And Katie's Portkey is scheduled to leave soon. But neither of them wants to leave.

Katie looks down at her wrist, where she has a spell for the time, and sighs. "I really don't need to miss my Portkey. I've got practice in the morning," she says, standing up.

Charlie follows suit. "Are you coming back?" he asks.

"I still don't know everything," she tells him with a wink. "So I'll be back."

Before he can say his goodbyes, she's out the door. He stands in the middle of his favorite coffee shop, watching the door close slowly. Then his bravery sets in. Rushing out the door, Charlie runs after her. He grabs her upper arm, twisting her around to face him.

He presses his lips against hers before she can ask what he's doing. He can feel her stiffen beneath him, but after a few seconds, she kisses him back. When they part, Charlie grins at her. "I'll see you when you come back, yeah?"

She laughs and nods. "You're an idiot if you thought I wasn't coming back for you," she says. She turns on her heels and continues to walk toward where her Portkey is scheduled to depart from.

Charlie stands dumbstruck in the middle of the street with a goofy grin on his face. _That girl is something else_, he thinks.

And, then, she is gone.

.


End file.
